Jury Selection Begins In Pennsylvania Priest's Sex Tourism Case

Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr.

Victimized by The Church?

Alan: Decades ago, I asked a priest-friend, "What percentage of priests are sexually active?"

"About half," Mike replied, "although frankly I worry more about the ones who aren't than the ones who are."

If someone has "the gift" of celibacy, let him (or her) be celibate.

On the other hand the percentage of priests who "have the gift of celibacy" -- as opposed to those who join the priesthood with a romanticized idea of "The Priestly Life" -- is small. 

Over time it becomes easier for "sexualized priests" to "accommodate the decline" than to start over in a better-suited profession.

Obligatory celibacy is an open invitation to sexual twistedness - whether pedophilia, romantic-involvement-with-parishioners or sexual cruising, whether gay, heterosexual or bisexual.

I venture that most priests who commit sexual crimes are victims of The Church which orchestrates sexual furtiveness and then imposes secrecy and denial.

I recall an insightful lemma of Twelve Step work: "Your sickness is as deep as the secret you keep." 

"Why Church Fathers Were So Negative About Sex"

http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/03/why-church-fathers-were-so-negative.html

Cardinal Who Said Homosexuality Was "Moral Degradation" Had A Boyfriend
http://paxonbothhouses.blogspot.com/2013/03/cardinal-who-said-homosexuality-was.html

Jury Picks Begin in Pennsylvania Priest's Sex Tourism Case

PITTSBURGH — Sep 8, 2015

By JOE MANDAK Associated Press

Jury selection began Tuesday for a suspended western Pennsylvania Catholic priest charged with traveling to Honduras to have sex with poor street children during missionary trips.

The Rev. Joseph Maurizio Jr., has been jailed since last fall when federal prosecutors in Johnstown accused him of molesting one boy and possessing child pornography. A new indictment in April added charges involving two other boys and that the Somerset County priest illegally sent $8,000 to a charity to help facilitate the trips which ended in 2009.

The 70-year-old priest has denied the allegations and has continued to be supported by some members of Our Lady Queen of Angels, the church he pastored before being placed on leave because of the charges.

U.S. District Judge Kim Gibson is expected to rule on two key issues before testimony begins Wednesday.

Federal prosecutors want to use an expert witness to describe the effects of sexual abuse on children, so prosecutors can argue that Maurizio's victims were similarly affected. The judge also has ruled that prosecutors can call a witness, now an adult, who also claims he was molested by Maurizio while just a boy, even though he's not one of the three alleged victims in the case.

That evidence is relevant, prosecutors argued in a motion to allow the testimony, because it demonstrates Maurizio's "persistent interest in sexual acts with minors and an ongoing desire to observe others engaging in sexually explicit conduct."

Defense attorney Steven Passarello has argued against the expert witness because she hasn't interviewed any of the alleged victims in the case.

The key charges Maurizio faces — engaging in illicit sexual conduct in foreign places — is also referred to as sexual tourism, or the act of traveling abroad to commit child-sex acts that are illegal in the United States.

He's also charged with three counts of transferring money out of the country used to promote an illegal activity.

Passarello has previously claimed that a rival charity, ProNino USA, and unspecified Dutch atheists have conspired to bribe poor Honduran children to accuse the priest.

ProNino USA hasn't responded to repeated requests from The Associated Press to comment on the defense attorney's claims.

The priest is charged with sending $8,000 in three installments to ProNino USA in 2007 and 2008 to finance his alleged sex trips. The charity is not accused of wrongdoing, nor does the indictment suggest that officials with the charity knew the purpose of Maurizio's trips.

Maurizio has been jailed since Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested him in September.

A criminal complaint filed then, which contains more details than the indictments, alleges Maurizio gave boys candy and money so he could molest them — including performing a sex act on a 14-year-old in a chapel — or watch the boys have sex. The sex acts occurred during mission trips to Honduras made by the priest's self-run charity in 2009 and prior years.